Naruto: The Inugami Initiative
by ManWithoutAHat
Summary: It has been decades since the world war was won, ushering the shinobi world into a new era of peace. In this more gentle age the shinobi is not simply a warrior but a scrupulous public servant. When three former genin who can't live up to that standard decide to escape from prison, they discover that there may be a place for them in the shadows. If they are willing to fight for it.


_Takahashi's Ramen, Konohagakure,_

 _11:32 p.m..._

During the reign of the of the seventh Hokage, his love of ramen become common knowledge and became something of a trend amongst the village as a whole. The now renowned Ichiraku Ramen was the main benefactor of this trend but in its wake legions of imitators popped up like mushrooms, determined to cash in one the fad. Of course eventually ramen demand levels returned to normal and the majority of these opportunistic businesses either folded or hastily switched over to some fresher trend. But by dint of quality or at least a loyal customer base a few of these establishments survived long enough to carve themselves out of a niche within the Konoha dining scene.

Takahashi's Ramen was one such venue. It wouldn't be right to say that the ramen itself was what drew people to Takahashi's, it was decent but not exceptional. It wasn't the decor either which was cheap, showing its age by this point and somehow dark even in the middle of the day. No Takahashi's was favored by a small but loyal clientele for its no frills, unobtrusive, discreet service and soundproof booths. If you wanted to unwind in peace and quiet or enjoy a private conversation Takahashi's was the place to be.

So on this particular night, two figures found themselves in one of Takahashi's private booths, two steaming bowls of pork ramen between them.

"You see the news? Military Police busted a street gang trying to hit the post office. They all had military grade weapons, swords, kunai, explosive tags. One of 'em even had a kote," The first speaker was a woman by the sound of her voice, late twenties or early thirties maybe.

This statement was answered by a loud slurping noise as the other occupant of the booth dug in, then finally: "Your ramen's gonna get soggy,"

"I'm not hungry, are you listening to me?" The woman asked, sounding a little stiff.

There was a sigh and then the second figure straightened up. "I'm listening and you're right, there's been a consistent pattern of incidents involving street gangs with access to restricted weaponry. Someone is arming these jokers," This voice was male and older, a little gravelly as if he smoked.

"And yet the Hokage refuses to launch a full investigation, doesn't want to 'alarm the public'," The woman said bitterly.

"Now, now," the second voice broke off to attack his pork bowl again and slurping filled the booth. "It's the Hokage's job to worry about stuff like that now. The world has benefited a lot from two generations of peace but the price is that we have to be a little delicate when it comes to things like this. Anyway I think this is as much an opportunity as it is a problem. I think it's the perfect chance to finally put into practice that little pet project of mine."

"...If you're talking about the project I'm thinking of then that was a lame joke,"

"Hmm? Oh 'pet', 'inugami' I see, wasn't intentional I promise,"

"In any case wasn't the problem with the inugami initiative talent? We couldn't find anyone who fit the profile and was skilled enough to meet the demands of the role."

There was a brief silence as the male leaned back in his seat and fished around in is pocket for a cigarette, impressively he had managed to drain his entire bowl during this conversation.

"Well I had some thoughts about that," he said, as cigarette smoke curled around his head. "I have an idea but I don't think you're going to like it. It's a bit unorthodox."

Nao Hanazawa laid on his too short cot and counted the stains on the grey, concrete ceiling above him. Forty nine, three more than last time, this was his eleventh count so he had stretched it out by meticulously poring over every centimetre of the concrete. Naoto wasn't sure how many more times he could do this and actually discover any more stains, barring water damage to the ceiling that resulted in exciting new stains of course.

But it was better than the alternative, which was trying to get to sleep. Trying to sleep always resulted in Naoto recalling that night which in turn resulted in a churning stomach and a sick twisting in his throat. So stain counting it was, or maybe he could switch over to cracks? Now there was an idea….

"Look alive Hanazawa, you got a new cell mate,"

Nao blinked and turned over on his side to peer out of his cell. "It's like ten o'clock at night? Don't new prisoner only get processed during business hour-ahhh…"

Nao stopped mid sentence, as his eyes adjusted fully to the brightness of the corridor outside of his cell and he identified the two figures standing there. One was a guard, whom he vaguely recognized, Kana-something something, a serious but fair minded guy in his early thirties. The other was a girl.

"Haahh," Naoto said. Smoothly

"Yo," said the girl, giving Nao an odd, three fingered wave and then tilting her head slightly as if to study him more accurately. The girl had mousey brown, chin length hair and big, black framed circular glasses that gave her a bookish air. She was also short for her age and her jumpsuit looked a few sizes too big for her, the sleeves drooped down to cover her hands, she was also carrying a bundle that looked like clothes and toiletries. Naoto wondered what such an unthreatening person had done to end up in here.

"You're a girl," Nao said. Super smoothly.

"It's only going to be a temporary thing, we need to transfer her over from her cell from a while," said the guard, rubbing his temples. Kanadara, that was his name. He looked tired.

"My cell mate wants to kill me so I'm gonna hang out here for a bit, sound cool?" chirped the girl, walking in and sitting down on the other bunk.

"Yours was the only cell with a spare bunk, there were empty cells but there was some kind of mold problem or something." Kanadara interjected and then looked at both of them sternly. "Don't either of you think about trying anything funny, don't forget there's cameras. But if you both cooperate and don't cause us any trouble while we resolve this situation I'll put in a good word for you. Maybe we can get some books or uhh…" The guard looked around the bare prison cell, searching for inspiration that he never found. "Or something,"

"It's fine I don't want any trouble," Nao said, holding his hands up placatingly. Truthfully it would be a little weird sharing a room with a girl but if it was only for a few nights then he could deal with it. Kanadara was right, it wasn't like they weren't being supervised or anything.

Kanadara nodded, trying again to look stern and then closed the cell door behind the girl. "Well alright then, good. Light's out is in half an hour," With that he left, leaving Nao and his new cellmate to share an awkward silence.

"Rei Sakazuki" The girl said suddenly. She was still sitting on the bunk, her legs were too short to reach the ground from there so they were swinging playfully underneath her, she smiled.

"Huh ohh, Nao Hanzawa, uhh nice to meet you," Nao replied, his speech stilting. How long had it been since he'd talked to a girl his own age? And in the first place he'd never been all that good with girls,"

"Likewise Nao, so tell me. What exactly do you do for fun around here? Apart from count ceiling stains I mean," Rei asked, tilting her head back the other way.

Nao felt his cheeks burn. She was watching that? And anyway how could she have known that was what he'd been doing?

"Process of elimination bud," Rei said, winking and holding up her hands to gesture around her. "There's not much else to count around here. Anyway I gotta be honest with you: that is super boring and I have a way better idea,"

Nao scratched the back of his head. "Uhh it's getting kind of late and I was really gonna just hit the sack-"

Rei ignored him and her smile widened into a wicked grin. "C'mon don't be like that. Let's get outta here,"


End file.
